The invention concerns an input/output connector (10) comprising a first electrically insulating part (1), including at least a fixing element (2, 4) and at least a contact strip, and a second part (50) acting as housing, which partly covers the first part (1), the planar connecting surface (5) of the contact rib (7) being located substantially in the same plane as the lower surface (9) of the fixing element (2, 4), such that said plane defines the plane for fixing the connector. Said connector can further comprise a power contact. The method for making such a connector consists in metallizing the plastic material to form the contact strip on the first part.
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13. An input/output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit card, comprising:
a first electrically insulating part which has at least one fixing element with a planar face and at least one contact lead having a planar connection face, wherein the planar connection face and the planar face of the fixing element are situated essentially in a same plane defining the plane for fixing the connector to the printed circuit card, and
an overmolded second part partially molded on the first part so as to form a mask defining an activated accessible zone on the first part, wherein the contact lead comprises metallization deposited on the activated accessible zone of the first insulating part.
8. An input/output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit card, comprising:
a first electrically insulating part, which has at least one fixing element with a planar face and at least one contact lead with a planar connection face, and
and a second part, which serves as housing and partially covers the first part,
characterized in that the planar connection face is situated essentially in the same plane as the planar face of the fixing element, this plane defining the plane for fixing the connector, and in that this contact lead corresponds to a metallization deposited on the insulating zone of the first part that is not covered by the second part,
further characterized in that it includes a power module for the transmission of high electrical powers.
7. An input/output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit card, comprising:
a first electrically insulating part, which has at least one fixing element with a planar face and at least one contact lead with a planar connection face, and
and a second part, which serves as housing and partially covers the first part,
characterized in that the planar connection face is situated essentially in the same plane as the planar face of the fixing element, this plane defining the plane for fixing the connector, and in that this contact lead corresponds to a metallization deposited on the insulating zone of the first part that is not covered by the second part,
further characterized in that the second part consists of at least one locking module for ensuring a mechanical fixation of the complementary connector.
1. An input/output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit card, comprising:
a first electrically insulating part, which has at least one fixing element with a planar face and at least one contact lead with a planar connection face, and
a second part, which serves as housing and partially covers the first part, wherein the second part comprises an overmolded part which is overmolded on the first part,
characterized in that the planar connection face is situated essentially in a same plane as the planar face of the fixing element, this same plane defining a plane for fixing the connector, and in that this contact lead comprises a metallization deposited on an insulating zone of the first part, and wherein a portion of the metallization extends between the first and second parts and is not covered by the second part.
6. An input/output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit card, comprising:
a first electrically insulating part, which has at least one fixing element with a planar face and at least one contact lead with a planar connection face, and
and a second part, which serves as housing and partially covers the first part,
characterized in that the planar connection face is situated essentially in the same plane as the planar face of the fixing element, this plane defining the plane for fixing the connector, and in that this contact lead corresponds to a metallization deposited on the insulating zone of the first part that is not covered by the second part,
further characterized in that the first part has at least one contact module, a module having at least one electrically conducting contact rib on which is deposited the metallization, and
further characterized in that the different contact ribs of a contact module are separated by shoulders belonging to the second part.
2. The connector according to
3. The connector according to
4. The connector according to
5. The connector according to
9. The connector according to
10. The connector according to
11. The connector according to
12. The connector according to
14. An input/output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit card as in
15. An input/output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit card as in
16. An input/output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit card as in
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The invention concerns an input/output connector, particularly for surface mounting on a printed circuit card, the connector comprising a first electrically insulating part, which has at least one fixing element and at least one contact, and a second part, which serves as housing and partially covers the first part, according to the preamble of claim 1. In addition, the invention concerns a process a process for manufacturing connectors that can be surface mounted, according to claim 14.
Such connectors are preferably used in portable communication devices, such as mobile phones or analogous devices. Usually, such devices are very small and easy to handle, so that there is little space for input/output connectors (which are also referred to as I/O connectors), which, for this reason, are surface mounted on a printed circuit card according to the SMD (surface mounted device) technique. Such connectors constitute mechanical interfaces for the connection of various peripheral devices, such as, for example, data transmission modems. The connectors, the dimensions of which are very small, have to be positioned precisely during mounting on the printed circuit card. In addition, they have to withstand strong mechanical demands on the life of the mobile phone and, if need be, they have to establish a good electrical connection between the connector and a complementary connector.
It has thus turned out that the demands pointed out above can be well satisfied if the connection side of the connector coincides essentially with the plane of the printed circuit card. In addition, it is indispensable that the fixing surface of the connector be reproducible.
Known from the document U.S. Pat. No. 6,000,953 is an I/O connector that uses, for the precise positioning of the connector, two L-shaped, removable holding clips, which are placed on the sides and at each end of which a projection is cut out by stamping. During the mounting or positioning of it, only these two projections make contact with the printed circuit card, so that the connector can be mounted in place in a way that permits pivoting. During the pivoting, the lowest contact pin of the connector is the first to reach the surface of the card and, together with the projections, makes up a tripod that defines the connection face of the connector.
Here, it is particularly disadvantageous that, on account of the flexibility of the connector contact pins, there is a longitudinal inclination with respect to the card, which is sometimes large and sometimes small. In addition, the reproducibility of this connection face makes it necessary to have contact plugs that are very precise in terms of form and length. Very narrow tolerance ranges also have to be observed for the lengthwise positioning of the pins in the housing. This inevitably increases the production costs of such a connector. In addition, it needs to be mentioned that the heights of the projections, obtained by stamping, are subject to great variation. In the prior art, this imprecision is not noteworthy owing to the fact that the heights of the projections are small in relation to their spacing. However, these variations do become noticeable if narrow I/O connectors are involved (for example, connectors that support only a few connections), so that, as the longitudinal inclination increases, a lateral wiggle becomes noticeable. The holding clips, which would also be poorly or falsely mounted laterally, also reinforce this effect, this being able to arise, for example, from impurities that have slipped between the clip and the housing.
In addition, owing to the fact that the connector comprises several basic pieces, such as the two removable holding clips, the contact pins enclosed in the housing, the housing itself, and locking hooks, a large number of manufacturing steps are required and this also increases the production costs. In addition, these narrow contact pins are not designed for large electrical powers.
The object of the invention is to propose an input/output connector for surface mounting on a printed circuit card, the connector comprising a first electrically insulating part, which has at least one fixing element having a planar face and at least one contact lead with a planar connection face, and a second part, which serves as housing and partially covers the first part and which has a connection face that is reproducible in a very precise way, it being possible to position this connector in a simple way on a printed circuit card.
This problem is solved by the fact that the planar connection face of the contact lead is situated essentially in the same plane as the bottom planar face of the fixing element, this plane defining the plane for fixing the connector. Moreover, the fact that the contact lead corresponds to a metallization deposited on an insulating zone of the first part, which is not covered by the second part, also contributes to the solution of this problem.
An advantageous mounting of the invention is obtained by the fact that the first part is made up of a piece formed by a single injection molding and that the second part is partially molded on above the first part.
It is thus particularly advantageous that the first part, together with its elements, is made up of a single piece. After the molding, there occurs no possibility of movement or of shifting forward or backward between the elements of the first part. The sole precaution consists in precisely milling the casting mold of the first part, namely, here, the injection molds. With the help of computer numerically controlled (CNC) machines, this does not pose any problem. The second part fills in the empty spaces of the first part and, owing to this, reinforces it, this creating a sturdy mechanical unit (connector).
Another advantageous mode of realization of the invention is that according to which the first part can have, on each of the two sides of the connector, a fixing element, in each of which centering holes can be arranged.
Preferably, in accordance with a special mode of realization of the invention, the connector includes the means for supporting strong electrical currents by, for example, having at least one power module for the transmission of high electrical powers.
In accordance with this special mode of realization of the invention, the power module consists of a metallic center contact, a metallic spring contact, and a holding contact, these contacts being capable of being connected electrically to a printed circuit card by means of bands of metallized synthetic material.
The connector in accordance with the invention consists of a first electrically insulating part, which has at least one fixing element and at least one electrical contact, and a second part, which serves as housing and partially covers the first part. The horizontally extending, planar connection face of the rigid contact is situated essentially in the same plane as the bottom planar face of the fixing element, this plane defining the plane for fixing the connector.
The connector comprises solely two parts and possibly a power module. It is only the first part that determines, by means of an undetachable fixing element and an undetachable contact having the connection surface, the plane for fixing the connector. A special feature of the invention lies in the fact that the connector does not require any additional mounting clip or hook to ensure the positioning and the fixation. Above all, it is necessary to bring out the fact that, when the connector has several contacts, all the fixing surfaces are situated in exclusively one plane.
Other advantageous modes of realization of the invention are characterized by the fact that the power module consists of a median metallic contact, an elastic metallic contact, and a holding contact, these contacts being capable of being connected electrically to a printed circuit card by means of bands of metallized synthetic material and by the fact that the two bands of synthetic material, extending over the back face of the connector and belonging to the first part, become separated connection surfaces that are situated in the same plane as the connection faces of the rigid contacts.
A power module that is realized in this way can be used to charge the device connected to it, a good electrical connection being ensured.
Another mode of realization of the invention is characterized by the fact that the center contact of elongated form, corresponding to a symmetry of rotation, has a smaller diameter in the zone in front than in the zone in back, which has at least one section of spherical form, projecting toward the outside in order to ensure the electrical and mechanical connection of the center contact to the first band or lead.
Such a center contact prevents, on the one hand, the scraping of a metallized surface and, on the other hand, thus ensures, all else notwithstanding, a good mechanical mounting.
Another object of the invention is to propose a process for manufacturing a connector capable of surface mounting, this process involving low production costs.
This object is attained by a process for manufacturing a connector that can be surface mounted in which the following manufacturing steps are involved. First of all, the first part is injection-molded. This is followed by chemical activation of the surface of the first part and then by filling in injection molding by compression of the first part in the injection mold of the second part. Now, the second part is partially molded on above the first part. Afterwards, the connector is metallized, the metal adhering only to the surface of the first part that is left exposed. Finally, in accordance with the chosen variant of the invention, metallic elements of the power module are possibly introduced into their corresponding chambers.
Thus, for the injection molding of the second part, the same thermoplastic material is used as for the injection molding of the first part. A special feature of the invention consists in the activation of the surface of the first part. Above all, this makes it possible to deposit the metal and to cause it to adhere to the synthetic material, such as a thermoplastic material. The first part is introduced into the injection mold of the second part and is subjected to filling in injection molding by compression, so that the first part, during the second pass, is not moved. After this, the second part that is formed plays the role of a sturdy, electrically insulating housing, owing to the fact that the voids and the intermediate spaces of the first part are filled. During the metallization, the second part acts as a mask. On the second part itself, no trace of adhering metal remains owing to the fact that, in general, the synthetic material chemically bonds poorly to the metal. By contrast, on the exposed, activated surface of the first part, a deposition of metal is preferably carried out. Simultaneously, the second part brings about the mutual separation of the different metallized zones of the first part, so that the latter are not connected to one another electrically. Thus, there occurs the formation of dedicated conducting zones that can be used as contacts. These metallic zones thus have an underlying support that is stiff and rigid, specifically the first part, which undergoes deformation poorly or hardly at all under the effect of pressure. It is thus particularly advantageous that, for such connectors manufactured in accordance with the invention, no contact plug is used. Contact pins or contact springs are used solely for the power module. It is therefore possible to combine the advantages of the two technologies without increasing the costs.
A preferred example of realization of the connector in accordance with the invention will be described in detail below with reference to the schematic drawing. Shown in the drawing are the following:
The first part 1 and the second part 50 are preferably made of an insulating thermoplastic material. The connector includes at least one contact lead 3. This contact lead 3 is obtained by metallization on the surface of the first part 1. The metallization is carried out solely on the zones of the first part that have been activated beforehand and have been made capable of fixing a layer of metal.
This metallized surface includes at least one portion presented in a connection plane 5 that is essentially identical to a plane in which the fixing elements 2 and 4 are presented in the first part 1. The metallization obtained is of very small thickness and the molds that are used to form the first part 1 are designed in such a way that the subsequent addition of the metallization makes it possible to guarantee a coplanarity of the connection plane 5 with the plane of the fixing elements 2 and 4. For example, the plane of the fixing elements corresponds to the plane of the bottom faces 9 of these fixing elements 2 and 4. The bottom faces 9 and the faces presented in the connection plane 5 are situated in a single plane. At most, a divergence of 50 microns may exist between the plane of the bottom face 9 and the connection plane 5.
The first part 1 includes the contact ribs 7. A contact rib 7 is furnished so as to have, at its periphery, a contact lead such as 3. The fixing elements 2 and 4, together with their centering holes 6 and 8, respectively, are formed in one piece with the contact rib 7 during the molding of the first part 1. In order to obtain the desired coplanarity, the bottom faces 9 of the fixing elements 2 and 4, as well as the connection faces 5, are placed against a flat base of the injection mold of the second part. This thus guarantees that the molding on operation will not affect this coplanarity in that no deposition on these faces will take place in the course of this second pass.
The molding on of the second part 50 is carried out in such a way that the latter does not completely cover the first part 1. The activated zones of the first part 1 remain accessible and are thus capable of being metallized after the molding of the second part 50.
The second part 50 has a body of rectangular shape that is elongated on its two short sides by two projections 57 and 58. Formed in the center of each projection 57, 58 is a hole 64 and 65, respectively. Visible on a lower edge 59 of a top face of the body are three windows 61, 62, and 63 of rectangular shape. The holes 64, 65, as well as the windows 61 to 63, are produced by means of holding posts, coming from above, which press on the first part 1 at, for example, the level of the face 22, which is already molded so as to fix it in the injection mode of the second part 50. These holding posts permit the formation of the windows and holes. Indeed, at these places, no thermoplastic substance can be molded owing to this fact.
The fixing elements 2 and 4 of the first part 1 extend on the outside on these same short sides of the second part 50 in superposition with the projections 57 and 58. The centering holes 6 and 8 of the fixing elements 2 and 4 can be used for the positioning of the connector on the printed circuit card.
The connector is preferably organized according to a modular structure. It includes at least one contact module. A contact module includes at least one contact rib, such as 7, which is an electrical conductor. In a special first mode of realization, in
The modules 14 to 16 are set in a frame 71 formed from a single piece on a fixing front. The contact ribs are arranged parallel to one another and include at least one second portion 11 that is perpendicular in relation to the direction of plugging.
The metallic deposit is made over the entire length of the rib 7 in such a way as to form the contact lead 3. It is deposited on the surface of the front part of the contact, 11, essentially extending vertically on the figure, and on the surface of the back part of the contact, 5, essentially extending horizontally in the figure, which are provided for making the respective electrical contacts with the associated peripheral devices or complementary connectors and with the printed circuit card. The contact surfaces 5 and 11 are connected to one another by another portion of the contact lead 3.
It should be noted that the metallic deposit does not result in an increased thickness that modifies the dimensions of the rib 7. The contact is made up of an electrically conducting contact lead 3, which is applied to the uncovered surface of the contact rib 7 belonging to the first part 1, the zone, opposite to the exterior front 10, of the contact lead 3 forming the electrical connection surface 5 for the printed circuit card, and the zone, facing the exterior front 10, of the contact lead 3 forming the surface of electrical connection 11 for the associated peripheral device.
The ends 23 of the ribs 7 emerge from a lower part of a back face 67 of the body. Visible on the right in
In the mode of realization presented, the connector includes at least one means of locking. In
In a variant presented through
In this variant, the power module 14, to be described in more detail, will be attached. In order to realize such a connector, it is molded in two passes and the metallic elements, namely, the center contact 81, the spring contact 82, and the holding contact 83, are introduced into their corresponding chamber in the course of a final stage, after the metallization of the contact ribs, such as 7, has taken place. For reason of better understanding, the elements of the power module are represented by the reference characters numbered starting with 80.
In a back face 14b of the power module 14, on the right in
Just as the ends 23 of the ribs 7 emerge in a lower part of the back face 67 of the body 56, the connecting leads 5′, 5″ also have ends emerging in the same way from the back face 67, all being aligned in relation to their corresponding connection contacts of a printed circuit card with which they can be connected. This makes it possible to obtain a secure and rapid brazing of the faces 5, 5′, 5″ with these contacts in a brazing oven by fusion.
On one lateral face 14a of the module 14, the first lead 84 of the center contact 81 extends first horizontally, then vertically, then horizontally on the back face 14b of the module 14, before the lead 84 disappears in the chamber 91. The second lead 85 of the spring contact 87 extends horizontally, then vertically on the lateral face 14a, before the second lead 85, passing through a window 87 arranged in the module 14, arrives in the chamber 92 of the spring contact 82.
The center contact 81 has an elongated form, corresponding to a symmetry of rotation, and has a smaller diameter in the zone in front 81a than in the zone in back 81b, which has at least one section 81c of spherical form, projecting toward the outside in order to ensure the electrical and mechanical connection of the center contact to the first band or lead 84.
Thus, the two right sections 81c are wedged in the interior of the block 88, causing them to establish contact with the first band or lead 84. The sections 81c of spherical form prevent a scraping of the metallic surface of the block 88 from occuring during the insertion of the center contact 81 into the chamber 91.
The spring contact 82 has two tongues 82a and 82b, the first tongue 82a establishing contact with the second band 85 and the second tongue 82b penetrating into the receiving chamber 78 of the complementary connector.
Ribeau, Pascal, Klein, Michael, Gassies, Janvier, Houdayer, Joel, Chabirand, Rachel
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Executed on | Assignor | Assignee | Conveyance | Frame | Reel | Doc |
Apr 05 2002 | FCI | (assignment on the face of the patent) | / | |||
Mar 20 2004 | CHABIRAND, RACHEL | FCI | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 015200 | /0298 | |
Mar 24 2004 | KLEIN, MICKAEL | FCI | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 015200 | /0298 | |
Mar 24 2004 | GASSIES, JANVIER | FCI | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 015200 | /0298 | |
Mar 29 2004 | RIBEAU, PASCAL | FCI | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 015200 | /0298 | |
Mar 29 2004 | HOUDAYER, JOEL | FCI | ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST SEE DOCUMENT FOR DETAILS | 015200 | /0298 |
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